Press reviw: chronicle of Sanremo of 1943

During the year reported in the title (year of arrest and death of the Jews deported from Sanremo) the newspaper "L’Eco della Riviera", which was heavily censored because of Nazi obscurantism, was concerned not to make public the atrocities that the SS carried out in Liguria. Nevertheless, thanks to the Sanremo Chronicle, we have the opportunity to know the situation of the city of flowers in that period. A recurring theme is the increase in the prices of consumer goods: for example, grapes paid from 8 to 20 lire per kg, oil at 280 lire per liter, eggs from 7 to 10 lire per kg.

There are reports of theft not only of money, but also of tires of cars, cattle and valuables from the local area of Via Ferruccio 2, where an old watch and some packets of candy were stolen. From this we can already understand the economic crisis that the population was going through during the war.

Probably this is also linked to the letters from the public on the lack of lighting in Corso Garibaldi - at the time one of the busiest streets of the city - which caused many accidents.

Not only did all this provoke the discontent of the Sanremo locals, but there were also a series of fires that struck mostly hotels: for example the Hotel Bomboniera in San Romolo. Unfortunately, during some unspecified air attacks, civilians were involved, such as the fisherman Luigi De Gregori.

By consulting the “Eco della Riviera” newspaper, one of the main information outlets of the Ligurian West during the Twentieth Century, it became known that topics such as the deportation of Jews were ignored. However, issues such as war and propaganda themes were addressed instead. 

For example, the theme of war and the respective battles on the foreign fronts and those of Western Liguria were very recurrent.

The following picture shows an article about the clashes between the Allied and Axis armies.

Other recurring articles in the "Eco della Riviera" were, for example, the "pro Infantia" (protecting the rights of minors), "la Beneficenza" (purely religious), 'Shows" (events, meetings, projections related to the glorification of the regime) and, finally, numerous strong headlines, aimed at impressing the reader. Another interesting aspect concerns the rewriting of literary passages of the past, in order to justify the cause and to attract buyers as much as possible. These were all expedients used by the Regime to give a strong propaganda impulse to the press.